Derek Ramstrom celebrates victory in the Granite State Pro Series Bemers Super Bowl 150 Saturday at New London-Waterford Speedbowl
WATERFORD – Experience on the one-third mile New London-Waterford Speedbowl oval was in short order for many of the starters of the Granite State Pro Stock Series Bemers Super Bowl 150 Saturday.
Before Saturday it had been two decades since the New London-Waterford Speedbowl had hosted a Pro Stock type event.
Derek Ramstrom was four years old the last time a Pro Stock was in competition at the Speedbowl. But while the 24-year old has spent most of his career behind the wheel of Pro Stocks and Super Late Models, part of his limited experience with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour includes two starts in Waterford over the last two years.
And that limited experience came in handy Saturday for the West Boylston, Mass. driver.
Ramstrom ran away with victory Saturday in the Bemers Super Bowl 150, the first event for the Granite State Pro Stock Series at the Speedbowl.
“Having been here before even in the Modified, it helps a lot because I’ve never really run here in anything but an Allison Legacy car and the [Whelen] Modified Tour car twice,” Ramstrom said. “It helps a lot though because you know the groove right when you get out there. That just definitely helps.”
Derek Griffith of Hudson, N.H. was second and clinched his first series title.
“This is mind-boggling,” Griffith said. “[Ramstrom] had an excellent car tonight and he ran me really clean. Congrats to him. To close it out here was pretty cool. … I’m at a loss for words.”
Barry Gray of Belchertown, Mass. was third.
It was the second career Granite State Pro Stock Series start for Ramstrom. He won in his series debut at Thompson Speedway in October 2014.
Ramstrom went by D.J. Shaw for the lead on lap 48 and never trailed again. Shaw’s day ended with mechanical issues on lap 82. He had been running second to Ramstrom at the time of the problems.
From that point Ramstrom checked out from the field easily after every restart.
“The car was phenomenal all night,” Ramstrom said. “It was really tight on the bottom and I just paced myself and took it slow. It’s unfortunate that [D.J.] Shaw broke. I’m sure he would have been right there contending with me. He usually is. But this was a pretty stout car. The team worked extremely hard all year with this.”
Too many laps to enjoy the show… Tons of cars but no fans in the stands… Hope the fans come out Sunday to enjoy the mods
Not a surprising outcome given how weak the competition is on the GSPSS, which has to be one of the better examples of why there are too many poorly conceived “tours” in the Northeast.
The Speedbowl is not 1/3 of a mile in distance, it’s 3/8. 3/8 is 220 feet longer than 1/3 of a mile. Connecticut tracks are 3/8, 4/8 and 5/8. If you want to include Lime Rock it’s 12/8.
Andy if u think the GSPSS is so weak why don’t u go out buy a car and run it. What mike parks has done give guys that don’t have a ton of money to run pass a tour they can afford so don’t bad mouth it.
Can anyone say total snooze fest? Should stayed home hope today is better
Well, throughout the 60s, 70s, 80s, & 90s, the track was continually advertised as .333 miles in distance. Only in the past decade or so has it been described as being .375 miles.
Some have speculated that in the warmth of the summer months the track grows (like a racing tire) in size to .375, but then retracts to its original size of .333 in the chill of autumn.
I’ll bet that’s why the article opened with the third -mile characterization… it was pretty chilly yesterday.
A speedway can change in length depending on where you measure it, around the bottom, so many feet from the bottom etc. gives different figures. I remember working at a NASCAR-sanctioned dirt “1/2-mile” and their remeasuring at different lines. Not sure if they advertised it as anything other than a 1/2 mile, however. Do two cars running side-by-side travel the same advertised distance per lap, but in fact do not?…
The biggest joke is Seekonk calling itself a 1/3 mile. It might be 1/3 mile at the wall but the racing groove several hundred feet shorter…
If you take the racing line at the speedbowl it’s 1/3 mile in length. If anyone’s familiar with Bethel Motor Speedway in NY they claim it’s a quarter mile but it measures closer to a fifth!
You got that right Justafan. If that was a test to see if they want to have them back next year I don’t think they will be. If I remember correctly, when the ACT tour was there a few years ago, I think they put on a better show. Maybe they should try that next season.
Once Ranstrom cleared the field it was over. D J Shaw is the only one that could keep pace until he broke.
A snooze fest for sure. Singlefile and almost no action.
Approximate median lengths of the 3 main ovals in CT are .535 miles for Thompson, .52 for Stafford and .34 for New London-Waterford. There is no 5/8 mile oval in the Northeast.